Electronic Advertising Specifications
for the Peoria Journal Star

Producing your ad on a Mac or PC gives you better control over its final appearance. These guidelines are intended to help you achieve the results you desire.

These guidelines are derived from the CREF (Computer Ready Electronic Files) guidelines written by members of the Soitex Graphic Arts Users Association.

Use of guidelines such as these is standard practice in a growing number of pre-press trade shops. They help insure a smoother workflow and more predictable results.
sections

Preparing your ad

Basic guidelines
  * High-res, continuous-tone image resolution should be at least 200 pixels per inch when image is scaled to its final publication size. Images should be in EPS.
  * Line-art resolution should be 400 pixels per inch.
  * Our line screen is 100 lpi and an angle of 45 degrees.
  * Be sure to remove unneeded elements from the layout and pasteboard.- Avoid using menu options to create special effects such as italic, bold, outline, drop-shadow, etc. Instead, use fonts specifically designed to create these effects.
  * Be sure to convert all colors to CMYK, (Pantone, RGB, Toyo and other ink models will not be reproduced faithfully on newspaper presses.)
  * When using QuarkXPress, be sure to update all graphics using the Pictures Usage option under the Utilities menu.
  * If you are using QuarkXPress 3.3 or higher, take advantage of the Collect for Output option under the File menu. It will put all page elements into one folder and give you a report of all fonts and other items used in the document.

Sending your files through an electronic media
  * If files are sent via an electronic media, they should be on one of the following media types: 1.4 MB floppy disk; 100m 250 and 750 MB Zip Drive disks or Macintosh CD Rom.
  * Ads should be in one of the following formats: Pagemaker 6.5, Illustrator 10, QuarkXPress 6, Creator 6.5, Photoshop 7, Corel Graphics 11, or Adobe InDesign 2. Any PC documents must be pre-approved before considering their acceptance. Please note the version numbers of the programs used at the Journal Star. If you are using a newer version, you will need to save back to the version we are using. If you fail to do so, we will not be able to open your ad.
  * Disk should be clearly marked with client name and date of ad publication.
  * Whenever possible, a hard-copy comp of the page should be included in your package. Ideally the comp will be full size. Comps should be marked with the following information:
  * File names of assigned high-res images
  * For-positon-only images
  * Special treatment of any element
  * Any additional special instructions
  * Include a printout of the disk directory. This gives you and us a checklist to be sure everything is included. It is also a good place to note any special instructions relating to specific files.
  * Screen and printer font files for all fonts used in the ad should be placed in a single folder. Any fonts not used in the layout should be removed from the fonts folder as we do not accept true type fonts..
  * High-res image and graphic files in the ad should be included in a single folder. For Quark layouts, be sure that all image assignments have been updated.
  * Anything compressed must be saved as Self Extracting.

Sending your files through an electronic medium
  * Files can be sent via AP AdSend, FTP or uploaded free of charge at www.centralillinoisads.com.
  * E-Mail is to be used for emergency situations only. We do not accept email ads in any other situation.
  * Please note: prior arrangements must be made with your sales rep before copy is sent by an electronic medium. Font and high-res image guidelines (as listed above for ads on electronic media) apply to all ads sent by any electronic medium in all approved applications.
  * An annotated, hard-copy comp of the page sent by fax will help eliminate errors.
  * If using FTP, call one of the numbers below for the Host, User ID and Password.
  * Please notify your sales rep before sending an ad through an electronic medium.

Questions? Give us a call
For general assistance, call your account representative. For technical assistance, call one of the following people:
  * Darren Gardner (309) 686-3077
  * Kenneth Bottrell (309) 686-3016


Getting Ready

The following are some specifications for Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Photoshop. This information is intended to help you produce your ads more efficiently.

Using Adobe Acrobat
Properly distilled Acrobat files are the format of choice for delivery of electronic copy. Acrobat is easy to use. It provides the highest degree of cross-platform compatibility and the most faithful reproduction of the original design.
  * When working with Acrobat, please observe these guidelines. Files should always be created by using Acrobat Distiller rather than PDFwriter.- Color files should be distilled using only Acrobat version 3.0 or higher. Acrobat 2.1 is not intended for delivery of pre-press color files.
  * An Acrobat file is considered to be fully camera ready. It insures secure reproduction of your design. We can make no alterations to Acrobat files. If corrections need to be made, a new file should be submitted.

Adobe Acrobat set-up
Use the following information to set preferences for Adobe Acrobat 4.0 Distiller. Any selectable items NOT listed below should be left unchecked.
General
  * Compatibility: Acrobat 4.0
  * Device Settings / Default Resolution: 1016 dpi
  * Default Page Size: should match your ad size

Compression
  * Compress Text and Line Art: on
  * Color Bitmap Images / Automatic Compression: ZIP/JPEG Low
  * Grayscale Bitmap Images / Automatic Compression: ZIP/JPEG Low
  * Monochrome Bitmap Images / Manual Compression: ZIP

Font embedding
  * Embed All Fonts: on
  * Subset All Fonts Below: 35%

Advanced
  * Preserve Overprint Settings: on
  * Preserve Halftone Screen Information: on
  * Transfer Functions: Preserve
  * UnderColor Removal: Preserve
(Important: Do NOT turn on the option to convert CMYK images to RGB)

Adobe Photoshop set-up
The following can be found in the Preferences menu of Photoshop. Using these settings will insure compatibility with Journal Star pre-press systems.
Printing inks set up
  * Ink colors: SWOP (Newsprint)
  * Dot gain: 30%
  * Use dot gain for grayscale images: off

Separation set up
  * Black generation: Custom black (move black start point to 50)
  * Black ink max = 93.1%
  * Total ink limit = 300%

Image specifications
Resolution
Image resolution should be at least twice the desired line-screen ruling when the image is at its final running size. For example, a resolution of at least 200 dpi is required for 75 lines per inch screen ruling on final copy. Images should never be up-sampled in Photoshop. If an image has insufficient resolution it should be re-scanned.
File format
Images should be saved as EPS. Color must be saved as CMYK only. No RGB or Pantone colors.